Naruto: Dawn
by One Thousand Rains
Summary: AU. Another retelling of the Naruto mythos, featuring a world where minute happenstances lead to vastly different outcomes. A brunette lived, girls were born in place of boys and boys in place of girls, a father's genes won out against a mother's (except the hair), and love took root in the freakin' smack middle of the curse of hatred. Strong/Smart!Naruto. Naruto/FemSasuke.
1. Prologue

**Naruto: Dawn**

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**Summary: **AU. Another retelling of the Naruto mythos, featuring a world where minute happenstances lead to vastly different outcomes. A brunette lived, girls were born in place of boys and boys in place of girls, a father's genes won out against a mother's (except the hair), and love took root in the smack middle of the curse of hatred. Strong/Smart!Naruto. Naruto/FemSasuke.**  
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**Chapter O: Prologue**

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**Konohagakure no Sato  
****October Tenth**

The joy...

The skies above the village alternated between light and darkness, in each blink of effulgence a radiant purple weaving into a brilliant blue interspersed with intense whites, yellows and reds. A galaxy of fireworks, which left the night sky dark as they died, only to light it up again as the next wave hit. Beneath the canopy of heaven men and women of all ages were immersed in celebration, engaged in traditional dancing, prize-winning, and entertaining themselves at various stalls.

The Festival of the Fox.

More accurately the festival of the fox's defeat, the anniversary of the Kyubi's defeat was perhaps the second most celebrated occasion in Konoha. The first would, of course, be the commemoration of the day the Shodai Hokage had used the legendary Mokuton and crafted the very forest in the heart of which this village thrived.

On the Tenth of October the fastest man alive, hailed as the most powerful man in the world, nigh-undefeatable, finally met his match. Fitting, a Konohan would think, that the One-Man Army's match was no shinobi – no, not even a kage – but a nine-tailed force of nature itself. The Yellow Flash, who had slayed a thousand of Iwagakure no Sato's entire military force singlehandedly in under five minutes, fell this day, but took the 'Demon Fox' down with him, saving the village.

In the midst of the festivities, a pair of sisters dressed in a pair of elegant, matching, light blue yukatas with darker, sapphire embroidery taking the form of vines. A sapphire fan, a festive-tailored version of the uchiwa crest, adorned their backs.

"Isn't today the day the Yondaime… y'know, _died_?"

Amber eyes peered inquisitively up at the dazzling display of fireworks above them. The ebony-haired little girl then glanced down at her ride, a much taller and older girl who bore a striking resemblance to the younger one. "Why is everyone so happy if… when our hero died?"

"Mmm," the elder ebony-haired girl smiled. "Because even though he died, he saved us all, Mitsuha."

"… Oh," Mitsuha didn't really get it, but then again, maybe she did. Kind of. The concept of self-sacrifice was still a bit above what a five-year-old Uchiha princess could accurately grasp, despite her remarkable aptitude.

Then, Mitsuha smiled; a delicate, regal upturning of her lips. "It's still really pretty. I'm glad we came, Izuha."

Uchiha Izuha felt warmth build up in her heart at her sister's expression of joy. Izuha lived for her sister, after all. She loved their parents, sure, but if there was one person in the eleven-year-old Uchiha Heiress' Izuha's heart, one person for whom she would take on the world if she had to and come out on top, that one person was her sister, Mitsuha.

She got so little time to spend with her, especially after she had joined the ANBU. Mitsuha knew nothing of that side of her, and Izuha never wanted to Mitsuha to find out either. Izuha was cursed; she was born with an aptitude unlike any in her generation; she had made Jounin at 9 and been drafted into the ANBU a year later. In the little-over-a-decade that she had been alive, she had seen the world for what man had made it. She had seen violence, bloodshed, plague, famine, cities levelled and nations destroyed, governments toppled, feudal lords beheaded. She had been the cause of many such incidences a considerable number of times.

She never wanted such a future for Mitsuha. Not for as long as it could be stalled, anyways. Mitsuha had the makings of a prodigy too, but she was not on Izuha's level. Izuha intended to ensure that Mitsuha would enjoy her innocence for as long as she could.

For Mitsuha, Izuha wanted peace.

"I'm glad that you're glad, imouto."

Mitsuha beamed.

Neither of Izuha nor Mitsuha were the kind to dance, after all, and the fireworks had finally ended.

"I believe we should take our leave now. It's getting late," Izuha spoke softly, and over her shoulders little Mitsuha nodded with a yawn, before her eyes fell on a clothing accessories stall.

In particular, Izuha followed Mitsuha's gaze to a black hair ribbon, studded at both ends with silver white beads arranged in the shape of the kanji of _chikara_, 'power'.

"Do you want that?"

Mitsuha nodded, and Izuha smiled delicately, before strolling over to the stand. In order to win the prize, she had to hit five targets. She did it with her eyes closed, before the stall owner even finished explaining, leaving his mouth agape (and Mitsuha's beaming in delightful awe).

Izuha let Mitsuha off, and once the younger girl stood on her legs the elder one ran her finger's through the former's obsidian locks and tied them up with the newly won ribbon.

"It suits you," Izuha commented, before poking Mitsuha's forehead.

Mitsuha blinked at the touch, before closing her eyes and giggling, a faint blush on her cheeks. Then, she yawned again, and Izuha grabbed her hand, silently leading them in the general direction of the Uchiha compound, her trained eyes finding the easiest path through the crowd almost on instinct.

Of the five October Tenths Mitsuha had seen, not _one_ had made her this happy. No one made her as happy as Izuha-nee, after all.

* * *

The emptiness…

The whole village was out celebrating, and it sickened the brunette to the core. After all these years, she should have become numb to their memory. She should have moved on. Didn't they say time heals all wounds?

They lied.

Every time the sky lit up thanks to the pyrotechnic displays, periodically relieving her of the darkness of the night, she saw their names etched onto the Memorial Stone, no longer anything more than a history lesson.

Nothing remained of that fatherly regard, except a holiday commemorating a dead hero, an excuse for people to dance and a giant face on a hill.

_Namikaze Minato – Yondaime Hokage_

Her sisterly… motherly… embrace. Those hugs, those smiles, that incessant teasing, her unending dreams, her destructive temper… that irresistibly funny '-ttebane'… for her, not even a holiday. It seemed as if no one alive even remembered her anymore.

_Uzumaki Kushina – Jounin_

How much they had meant to her, she was never able to tell them. She would have died for them… it was not like she didn't try. But they died for her, instead. Turn by turn.

Despite herself, a smile graced her features as she closed her glistening eyes and thought back. She could still hear it… that euphony, the song of a thousand birds.

_Hatake Kakashi – Jounin_

That care… that _love_… what she could never return in life, her single, greatest regret. Even as he lay dying, bisected, _crushed_, he could only think about her, despite all the pain and rejection she had dealt his way.

_Uchiha Obito – Genin_

A single tear slithered down the side of her face, glistening against the purple markings on her face. She choked back a sob. When Obito died, she had Kakashi. When Kakashi died, she had Minato-sensei and Kushina-sensei. They were the last two pieces Rin Nohara had left, they were her whole world.

Of the five October Tenths she had seen since that day, not _one _had gone by without reigniting that excruciating pain, the pain of losing her whole world.

* * *

The loneliness...

Naruto's cerulean orbs took on an erubescent hue as the fireworks lit up his otherwise somber apartment every other, fleeting, moment. The scarlet-haired Uzumaki glanced down at the Yondaime's stone visage as the village again lit up. In the darkness of the night, the Hokage Mountain, was on its own difficult to see, even though his bedroom window had a prime view of the memorial. But on October Tenth, he would get the chance to look at the Yondaime's face again and again, as if it was a birthday gift. A face which, unbeknownst to him, resembled his own almost to a fault, sans three whisker marks which Naruto possessed on each cheek, and the difference of hair color.

The redhead sighed, shoulders slumping in melancholy.

At first, the five-year-old didn't really know what birthdays meant to signify. But then he had met Hinosuke, that day, at the park. Naruto had seen a timid, inquisitive boy being bullied by some kids from the Academy, and Naruto had gotten mad.

The look in those kids' eyes had been similar to what he had to endure on a daily basis.

The redhead was _not_ going to let it happen to anyone else.

The prank had been ingenious, executed with fool-proof efficiency. The bastards never knew what hit them.

Since then, despite the scarcely concealed disapproval of his caretaker, Hyuga Ko, Hyuga Hinosuke had become Uzumaki Naruto's closest, and only, friend – not counting the Old Man, Teuchi and Ayame, of course. Those three were dear to Naruto, without a doubt, but they were too old to call 'friends'. All the other kids at the park played with other kids their own age, those were what friends were. No one played with Naruto, because their parents, again, gave him the look. Hinosuke was the only one, and Hinosuke had called Naruto his friend. So, Naruto and Hinosuke began spending most of their time together.

That lasted until the boy had suddenly and abruptly, just, disappeared.

Naruto's already tender heart was shattered when Hinosuke didn't show up at the park that day. He never did see him at _all_, after that, even though he had gotten as close to the Hyuga estate as he was allowed to go multiple times.

He had even snuck in once.

… that didn't go so well.

Still, despite his longing for the timid, yet astoundingly intelligent boy, and his anger at the selfsame boy for ending their friendship – as Naruto perceived it - the redhead had still learned many things from the pale-eyed Hyuga Heir. Things that should have been common sense to any five-year-old, but which his utter-lack-of-an-upbringing had left him bereft of.

Like the fact that a birthday was supposed to be celebrated.

A single tear escaped his right eye, pristine as a pearl as it stopped just under his right, whiskered cheek, before dripping down on the windowsill.

October Tenth, his birthday. The day the whole _village_ celebrated, while he was forced to hide in his apartment, afraid to set a foot outside his door. The Old Man had forbidden him from leaving tonight.

Of the five October Tenths he had seen, not _one_ had gone by without an attempt at his life, after all.

* * *

The seething hate...

He knew he was not his senses, but at the same time, he thought he was. Cheeks flushed and stench foul from the binging he had indulged in tonight, Takeshi nonetheless remembered his training well, executing each move flawlessly. Sneaking into the apartment complex opposite that of the demon fox's, he knew what he had to do.

He had to end the pain.

Of the five October Tenths he had seen, not _one _had gone by without an attempt at the demon's life, after all, although all of them had been foiled one way or another.

An error he intended to rectify tonight.

The demon thought he was safe in his little den. Sure, none of the previous assassins had dared actually attempting to slay the fox in its own apartment. They had attempted to kill it somewhere in public, where the murder could be passed off as accidental, and thus avoid the Hokage's wrath.

Hokage's wrath be damned. They were stupid.

(Or, more accurately, perhaps they were not as drunk as he was.)

From where he was perched, he could see the mop of spiky red hair on the windowsill on the opposite building, a single storey above his level.

Takeshi grinned and withdrew his kunai. Time to rid the world of the demon spawn. He would shred it, the very same way it had shredded his mother beneath that horrific, giant claw of it's.

* * *

Mitsuha had fallen asleep on the way back, and Izuha had hoisted the raven-haired girl onto her back. The night was tranquil despite being far from quiet, the elder ravenette enjoying the trek home.

Then, her trained ears picked up a very distinctive sound, one that she knew all too well, that of a kunai flying through the air, parting the currents with its sharp end. It preceded a cry of pain:

"Aaah!"

The voice of a child.

Instantly, Izuha rid herself of her weighted _geta_, before releasing a pulse of chakra from the soles of her unshod feet and launching herself straight into the night sky. She landed on the roof of a building, the sudden movement having shocked Mitsuha into wakefulness.

"Wha-?"

"Quiet, imouto, and stay down against my back," Izuha ordered, and Mitsuha immediately understood her tone of voice. Her sister had to tend to some urgent kunoichi business, the dangerous kind, and she couldn't afford to stow Mitsuha in a safe place beforehand. Mitsuha inferred all of that from Izuha's tone alone. Despite knowing that she should be scared in a situation like this, the younger girl instead felt a strange, almost sickening excitement overtake her.

She was going to see her Neechan in action, after all.

The buildings around her blurred into streaks of white and dark grey as Izuha leapt across the rooftops and before suddenly stopping at the edge of one. Mitsuha followed her sister's line of sight from behind her back, tracking it towards an adjacent apartment complex, particularly a single open window on the second floor. Despite her minimal kunoichi training (which was still significant compared to other children her age, considering she had already unlocked her chakra and was learning basic fire elemental manipulation at this point in time), even Mitsuha could hear the sounds of struggle from inside the open window.

Izuha, however, could see much more. Her irises were crimson, triplet tomoe spinning in an electrified frenzy.

Holding Mitsuha securely at her back - Izuha couldn't just leave her sister anywhere, and she was too stubborn to stay behind anyways and she could not afford to lose precious seconds arguing with Mitsuha right now - Izuha leapt in a burst of chakra and quickly entered Naruto's apartment through the very same window the assassin had entered moments before.

Takeshi had missed striking the demon's neck by a hair's breadth, but now he held the crying child in his grasp by the scruff of his shirt, another kunai poised to impale the brat's stomach, and end this right here, right now.

Mitsuha saw the scene and her eyes widened, while Izuha's narrowed.

A gurgle of fresh, red arterial blood erupted from his neck a moment later, and Takeshi dropped Naruto before falling to the ground, a kunai embedded deep into his neck.

Mitsuha gasped, trembling as she glanced down at Izuha, who concealed her hand in the sleeve of her blue yukata. She hadn't even seen Izuha move, but she had- she had...

Mitsuha gulped, before a choked sob drew her attention to the red-haired boy. Despite being unnerved at seeing her own sister kill - despite seeing her _first_ kill at such a tender age - Mitsuha had enough presence of mind to slide off Izuha's back and race towards Naruto.

"H-Hey, hey!" Mitsuha crouched down beside him and held out her hand to the redhead, his brilliant blue eyes glanced at it in shock and trepidation as he attempted to crawl backwards. "It's okay! You're safe!"

"W-What... are you_-ttebayo_?!" Naruto finally ground out, loudly.

Mitsuha reached toward him, but he flinched backwards, clearly shocked. Hesitant, Mitsuha tried to remember how her mother or her sister would calm her down after she had a nightmare or something. She did, and hey, it worked for her, so...

She poked the boy on the forehead, and that, somehow, magically, seemed to finally help him focus away from the bleeding corpse in his apartment and at her. Exactly, at her, for the first time.

Amber eyes met blue.

"It's okay," her voice was soft, gentle. She was trying to mimic her mother, with that comforting tone of voice. She saw him bleeding from his upper arm, where the assassin's kunai had grazed his shoulder. Immediately, Mitsuha searched for a makeshift bandage, her first thought going to the ribbon Izuha had tied her hair up with. Reaching behind, she untied it before wrapping it like a bandage around Naruto's arm.

Consolation... something Naruto had only so rarely experienced, usually at the hands of the Old Man. The resultant onslaught of emotion caused Naruto's eyes to well up, and without even thinking about it he hugged the unknown girl and sobbed into her shoulder.

Meanwhile, frowning at the asininity of the assassin, Izuha quietly summoned a raven and sent a coded message to the Hokage and the ANBU.

* * *

**One and a half year later  
Konoha Ninja Academy**

The sun had risen well above the horizon as Naruto walked with the Old Man. Naruto liked walking with the Old Man. The looks weren't as intense, and the whispers a lot more hushed to the extent that he couldn't really discern their intent, whenever he was with the aging Hokage. Naruto knew it was because everyone respected the Hokage; to the extent that they would not disrespecting _him _while he was in the Hokage's presence.

That was one of the many reasons Naruto dreamed of being the Hokage one day. He would show the villagers what he could do; he would become strong, and he would protect them, and then he would have their respect and admiration.

The logic may be singular, but in the mind of a six-year-old who didn't know why he was hated, it made perfect sense.

"Just you wait, jiji," the redhead declared. Hiruzen glanced down at the redhead with a smile. The boy had Kushina's hair, verbal tic, and dreamer personality, but other than that he resembled Minato to a fault sans whisker marks. Hiruzen would know; he had still been Hokage when Minato had been Naruto's age, after all. And if the boy even had half of his parents' talent, he would go far.

Very, very far.

"I'm gonna be the greatest Hokage there ever was," he finished his declaration, his tone uncharacteristically calm for such a bold purpose. Unlike Kushina, Naruto was neither loud nor boisterous. He had Minato's temperament as well. Kushina's hot-blooded guts with Minato's cool temperament... the thought scared Hiruzen a little.

"Heh, heh," Hiruzen chuckled. "I would advise you to be quick about it, Naruto-kun. I want to get rid of this hat already, and I'd rather give it to you personally."

Naruto smirked, blue eyes looking up at the old man with warmth.

"Greetings, Umino-kun," Hiruzen spoke as they had finally reached the appropriate classroom, which immediately quietened at the Hokage's presence. Umino Iruka stumbled a bit as he realized precisely _who_ had interrupted his lesson, before placing the chalk aside and beckoning the Hokage inside.

Naruto saw Iruka's eyes widen when his eyes fell on the whiskered redhead. For a second, he saw the same hollowed look he saw in the eyes of most of the villagers whenever they saw him. The same look in the eyes of... that assassin, a year back... but then it was replaced by a professional nonchalance, as Iruka's attention turned back to the Old Man.

Naruto felt uncomfortable, and he tuned the Sandaime out as he walked forwards to discuss Naruto's enrollment procedure with Iruka. The look Iruka had given him had lasted no more than a moment, but that had been enough to spark memories in Naruto. He glanced at his left arm, and saw the black ribbon there. The girl had forgotten to take it back, and he had never seen the two females again once the Hokage and the ANBU had arrived. Naruto had diligently washed it of blood, his wound having healed by itself underneath by the time the shinobi forces got there. Still, he kept it, and tied it around his arm at the exact same place for the past year and a half every time he got dressed in the morning.

He couldn't forget about that girl...

* * *

_She_ couldn't forget about that _boy_.

Even if it weren't for the fact that his memory was imprinted into her mind alongside that of the first kill she had ever witnessed, that tomato-colored hair was impossible for anyone to forget.

So imagine her surprise when he walked into her classroom half a year later. Her keen, Uchiha eyes didn't miss her black ribbon, still on his arm.

The Hokage left, and Iruka-sensei took the boy's hand. She saw the same fear in his eyes when Iruka approached him that she saw that day. She still wondered, how could someone her age be so... afraid? So alone? Why would anyone want to kill him? Mitsuha's eyes narrowed in thought.

But Iruka smiled at him. It seemed forced at first, but then quickly it became genuine, as if her sensei had been trying to reason with himself and then successfully convinced himself of the validity of his approach. Naruto relaxed at the smile on the man's face, and walked with him hand-in-hand to the front of the class.

"Class, this is Uzumaki Naruto-kun. He'll be joining us from today as a regular student," Iruka introduced.

"Ohayou gozaimasu!" Most of the class shouted, but Naruto could still hear - his hearing was keener than most, he discovered - some hushed whispers of: _'isn't it that tomato-head?' 'my kaa-san told me to stay away from him, that he's nothing but trouble!' _and other things along the same lines, and he bowed his head in shame.

"O-Ohayou..." he mumbled back, barely loud enough to be audible to the first three rows of students. Then his eyes landed on a familiar face - pale eyes, blue hair - Hinosuke! The boy's lips were quivering, as if he was trying to say something, but couldn't.

Naruto remembered that he had a stutter. Still, he didn't know what the boy thought of him. They had been friends... but then Hinosuke had ditched him.

"Now, who will volunteer to be Naruto's first friend and new student guide?" Iruka asked.

Immediately, a hand shot up. Naruto's eyes followed it, and widened as his heart seemed to stop. The entire class - or specifically, the Uchiha Mitsuha fan-club - burst into an uproar.

_'Mitsuha-san wants to be friends with **that** wierdo?!'_

_'Mitsuha-sama... how could you choose him over me!'_

_'B-B-But Mitsuha-san doesn't want to be friends with **anybody**!'_

_'... y'know, Forehead, there **was** that rumour that Mitsuha-san likes tomatoes...'_

Naruto's canine senses picked up every word, yet, he didn't process even one. She was here, too... that girl... absently, Naruto touched the ribbon tied around his arm with the opposite hand.

"My, what a surprise," Iruka commented, before smiling down at the boy and gently nudging him towards Mitsuha's seat. "Go on, Naruto, take a seat besides Mitsuha."

* * *

The entire class had passed in utter silence. Naruto found his concentration waning after the first twenty minutes, and he turned his attention to the girl besides him. Unlike him, she felt utterly focused on the lecture.

Naruto glanced down at his arm, untied the ribbon, and slid it into Mitsuha's palm beneath their desks.

She glanced at him, saying nothing, and he looked in the other direction.

Mitsuha returned her attention to Iruka's lecture, clasping her palm around the black ribbon.

* * *

**Shinobi Academy  
Approximately two years later**

"Did you hear?"

"You mean about..."

"The Uchiha clan..."

"I heard it was Uchiha Izuha..."

"Mitsuha-san's cousin?"

"I thought they were sisters..."

"... No way, her own sister...?!

Naruto drowned out the incessant whispering. His fox-like senses had only grown sharper over the years, but he couldn't bear to hear their endless rambling today. His hands trembled as he glanced at the empty spot beside him.

"Mitsuha..." he mumbled, before slamming his hand on the desk loudly in aggravation.

"Naruto!" Iruka shrieked, as the class stared at him.

Naruto ignored them. Mitsuha hadn't been here three days, and only today they found out what had transpired three nights ago at the Uchiha Clan Compound. Naruto didn't want to believe it. It made him sick... it reminded him of... that assassin, all those years ago...

Naruto got off his seat and raced for the Uchiha Compound.

* * *

She sensed his approach before he even said a word.

"Go away."

"B-but Mitsuha-chan..."

"Don't call me that!" she snapped her head in his direction, for she stood with her back facing him, and Naruto gasped as he saw her eyes, backing away in fright. They were wet with tears and, for a moment, flashed red. "You're _not_ my friend! I don't _have_ friends! I don't _need_ friends! I don't need friends to _**kill her**_! So get _out_ of my home!"

She turned back, staring at the spot where she had discovered her parents' bodies two days ago. Where she had seen... seen her _eyes_. _"When you have eyes like mine, come, and find me," _hearing those words in her head again caused Mitsuha's hands to clench into fists, her nails tearing into her skin, causing her hands to bleed.

Naruto didn't know what to do. Because Naruto knew that despite all the pain he had endured, he couldn't relate to hers. She had lost everything she had, but he hadn't had anything to begin with.

Naruto glanced around. The tall trees studding the Uchiha Compound seemed to have low branches, as if they two were mourning the carnage that was unleashed here. The ANBU had cleaned the place up, despite that, the foul stench of blood still permeated the air.

It made Naruto sick.

He couldn't leave her here.

He tried again. "Mitsuha... please... I-"

In one swift movement, Mitsuha turned around, retracted her arm and slugged Naruto in the face with such force that an audible _crack_ emanated from his jaw as he went flying back, his back striking the tiles on the entrance gate wall and shattering them.

"Ugh..." Naruto groaned in pain.

A black ribbon flew through the air into his lap.

"And take that _thing_. _She_ gave it to me. _**Burn**_ it," Mitsuha hissed, uncannily similar to a snake, before turning around and hiding her face again, her now open hair dancing in the blood-scented wind. She wouldn't let him see her tears. Tears were weakness. She would no longer be weak. _**Power.**_ She needed _power_ to kill _her_.

She couldn't waste time with... _friends._

Naruto could already feel the damage healing. It wasn't the pain from the cracked jaw or aching backbone that caused tears to well up in his eyes, it was something else. Naruto knew Mitsuha was hurting too, hurting more than himself, but he didn't know what to do!

He picked the ribbon up, and limped away from the Uchiha Compound.

Things were never the same after that. Not till graduation.

* * *

**To be continued.**

**As some of you may be able to tell, this story was partly inspired by the anime movie 'Your Name' (Kimi no Nawa), and is intended to be a better version of my previous story of Team Eleven (which is abandoned).**

**Also, I could really use a beta reader for this story.**

**Review please. I'm entirely open to thoughts, ideas, and constructive criticism.**


	2. Tomatoes

**Naruto: Dawn**

* * *

**Summary: **AU. Another fresh take on the Naruto mythos, featuring a world where minute happenstances lead to vastly different outcomes. A brunette lived, girls were born in place of boys and boys in place of girls, a father's genes won out against a mother's (except the hair), and love took root in the smack middle of the curse of hatred. Strong/Smart!Naruto. Naruto/FemSasuke.**  
**

* * *

**Author Notes:** **Thank you to all who reviewed. ****TheSlySage, your idea was brilliant. Unfortunately, not for this story, but I'll keep it mind for a future project, if someone else doesn't do it first. Now, as a Guest pointed out, I rushed the Prologue and skipped through the Academy Years. I was excited to post the story but in hindsight, I realized that by doing so I actually missed out on a lot of character development, so I've covered more Academy stuff here. Not much action or story progression at all, but some essential groundwork. I think.**

* * *

**I: Tomatoes**

* * *

**Konoha Ninja Academy  
****Classroom 3B2**

'Chouji, B+,' Iruka announced as he handed the chubby boy his graded test, who took it with a grin. Iruka walked to Shikamaru.

"Shikamaru, F," Iruka sighed. "Maybe you'd actually bothered to... you know... pick some answers."

"... Meh, what a drag," Shikamaru put his head on his desk and promptly fell (back) asleep, much to the chagrin of his teacher and classmates.

"Naruto..." Iruka frowned as he handed the redhead his test. "E."

"Pfft, haha! Way to go, To-Ma-To!" Kiba, who himself had scored a D, blew the redhead a raspberry. Iruka sent a glare the Inuzuka's way, and he promptly shut up.

Naruto simply bowed his head in shame, dejectedly taking the test from Iruka's hand. Iruka rubbed his chin as he returned to his desk after handing out the remaining tests. He knew full well Naruto was better than this. Ever since the Uchiha Massacre, however, Naruto just hadn't been the same. Iruka wasn't a genius but even he could see that Mitsuha and him weren't sitting together anymore. Mitsuha had always been somewhat of a loner but she had seemed to open up to Naruto, for some reason.

But after the Massacre, she had withdrawn herself from everybody, including him, and Naruto hadn't taken the loss of his only friend well at all.

His grades had plummeted.

Iruka glanced at the raven-haired girl sitting in the seat by the window, staring outside mirthlessly. Her own performance had actually been better than before; in fact, it had been perfect. A+s, 10-out-of-10 targets in every shuriken training session, winning every single Taijutsu match, and she was already proficient in the three Academy jutsu despite the class being a year from graduation. Iruka didn't fail to notice the marks on Mitsuha's hands. He could tell she spent every waking hour when she wasn't in the Academy training to become stronger.

Iruka felt for the girl. What had befallen her was inexcusably horrific.

But while he had no idea what to do about her situation - Iruka's own life had been ruined by the fox, not by his own sister - with Naruto, Iruka could relate. Iruka was not blind enough to blame Naruto for what the Kyuubi had done.

... Well, he had been. Once.

But come on. The lonely child sitting in front of him, ridiculed by his peers, depressed after losing the only friend he ever had was not, in any sense of the term, a thousand-year-old nine-tailed chakra monster that could cause earthquakes and generate tsunamis.

He was a lonely kid.

A lonely kid like one Umino Iruka.

"Remember to turn in your assignments on famous Konoha ninja by the end of the week," Iruka announced, but knocking on the desk. "Class dismissed."

Noise erupted as the students began to file out in hordes. "Stay, Naruto," Iruka called after the redhead as he timidly passed the teacher's desk. Naruto stopped and turned, fear and shame in his eyes, but he nodded.

"It's okay, Naruto," Iruka said in the softest, most paternal tone he could voice, once the class was bereft of all except the Umino and the Uzumaki. "I'm not going to rebuke you," he smiled as the boy seemed to relax somewhat. "I was wondering if you'd like to go out for ramen."

Iruka knew how much the boy loved ramen. Instantly, Naruto's mood brightened. "Ichiraku's?" the boy asked timidly.

Iruka nodded. "My treat."

* * *

**Ichiraku Ramen**

As Naruto slurped down his second bowl of ramen with the grace of a bull, Iruka simply stared at him with a sweat-drop while thinking about how he should encroach this subject without disturbing the boy.

"Naruto..." he began once he knew the boy was content and eating more slowly, at least for the time being. "I wanted to talk about your grades."

Naruto's shoulders slumped. Iruka sighed. "I know what you're going through, my boy. Trust me, I do."

The eleven-year-old glanced up at his sensei with multiple emotions visible in his eyes. Disbelief and incredulousness, mixed with hope, and confusion. "You do? How?"

"Let me tell you about a boy who grew up alone," Iruka slurped in some of the noodles, his table manners a lot better than his young companion's. "His parents died in the... the Kyuubi attack. He had no friends, so he turned to pranks for attention. He didn't perform well in his studies, until he became the dead-last of his class. He didn't really know why he existed. He had no one to live for. There was no reason in sight why he did."

Naruto froze. Iruka-sensei was talking about him, wasn't he? So had the whole 'treat you to Ichiraku's thing' been a farce? Had Iruka-sensei done all this just to ridicule Naruto?

"Then someone came into his life. Someone who showed that they cared, and suddenly his lonely existence had validation."

Iruka glanced up towards the Hokage Mountain as he said that, while Naruto began to tremble. The redhead couldn't really understand what Iruka wanted; was Iruka making fun of him? Belittling Naruto's life? What?

"The boy's name was Umino Iruka."

Naruto's train of thoughts stopped in its tracks. "W-What?"

Iruka turned back around to look him and smiled down at Naruto kindly. "We are alike, Naruto. In many ways. I know that losing Mitsuha's friendship has shaken you, but she isn't the only person who cared about you, Naruto. I do. Hokage-sama does," he bobbed his head in the direction of the Ichiraku kitchen, where Teuchi and Ayame were at work, "and they do too."

Naruto stared at Iruka for a couple of moments, before a small smile graced his whiskered features and tears well up in his eyes. Iruka saw the boy's look and slid an arm around his shoulders, pulling him in for a hug which the boy eagerly returned.

"Thank you so much, Iruka-sensei."

* * *

**Konoha Ninja Academy**  
**Classroom 3B2**

"Iruka-sensei!"

"What, Naruto?"

"Why do we waste four years in the Academy and graduate with nothing but three jutsu that ninja don't even use much down the road? I saw Mitsuha throw a fireball the other day, " Naruto protested, as he sat in the chair opposite Iruka's desk after class was on recess one day.

Iruka sighed, but patiently proceeded to explain. "Just because a jutsu isn't flashy, or you're having trouble with it, doesn't mean it isn't important, Naruto."

A pause.

"Wait, a fireball? That can't be it. Elemental manipulation is way beyond Academy level, at least C-Rank. I'm sure you were mistaken. She probably just had an exploding tag in her mouth that she spat out or something."

"Hmm... looked like a fireball to me," Naruto mumbled to himself, shrugging.

"And what were you doing spying on Mitsuha anyways, hmm?"

Naruto sighed, looking at the black ribbon he still had wound around his left forearm like a bandage. "She's so alone. All the time. I worry about her."

Iruka sighed, before nodding reluctantly. "That's true, but she's still her own person. Eavesdropping on people is a bad thing. Make sure there are boundaries you don't cross, Naruto."

The boy nodded, and Iruka got up from his desk and walked towards the bookshelf against the wall on his right. He spent a couple of minutes looking before pulling out the scroll in question. It had picked up dust over the years, but it was just what Naruto needed right now.

"I know your favourite Hokage is the Yondaime, but it was the Nidaime that designed most of the Academy curriculum that we follow today. He's the one who used to emphasize that the Kawarimi, Henge and Bunshin are essential techniques every shinobi and kunoichi should know. That's why they're important to learn. I'm sure you'll find this helpful, Naruto-kun."

Naruto picked the up the scroll, opening it just enough to view the title.

'The Three Deadliest and Most Essential Jutsu'.

Dang, the Nidaime knew how to pick his titles alright.

* * *

**The forest around the village  
Konohagakure no Sato**

_'Many shinobi neglect training the Kawarimi, Henge and Bunshin due them being simple to learn. These three jutsu are severely underestimated, especially in combination. Their utility lies in their coupling ease of mastery with versatility. For a true master of the Kawarimi can simply replace himself with a weapon held by the enemy, thus breaking into their guard and ending the match in the master's victory with a quick kill. How much chakra was used up? None at all.'_

Naruto whistled. He had to admit, the Nidaime was one sharp kunai when it came to jutsu. Naruto hadn't never really thought training the basics could be this useful. He whisked through the tome of a scroll, opening different marked sections, until he came across a chapter title that caught his eye:

_'Mastering the Bunshin: Special Considerations -_

_Some people, particularly those of Ashuran descent such as the Senju, have an intrinsic difficulty mastering the Bunshin no Jutsu due to their vast chakra reserves. Being a Senju myself I too struggled with this as a child. Such people have difficulty exerting the fine control required in order to siphon off the tiniest amounts of chakra from their immense reserves. Thankfully, the fine control required, although meriting additional training, is by no means unattainable. I have observed even my sister-in-law, Mito, attain that level of control and she has more chakra than anyone I've ever known. The following chakra control exercises are recommended for such individuals...'_

Naruto put the scroll down and promptly got to work, truly excited about learning Academy material for very, very, very first time.

* * *

Night had fallen and Naruto lay on the forest floor, his chest rising and falling in deep breaths. Through half-lidded eyes he shot an exhausted glare up at the broad-based tree that stood before him in all its might, as if mocking all the effort he had put into this exercise over the past three days. He could climb almost halfway up the tree without being blown off. The necessary balance still evaded him.

Chakra exhaustion was such a rare thing for Naruto. He loathed the sudden lack of energy. However, he understood it was a temporary measure. Naruto didn't really know what 'Ashuran descent' meant but the Nidaime's scroll had given him a clue regarding his heritage, something he often wondered about. The boy understood that he had vast reserves, and now he realized the reason behind his ineptitude at the Bunshin. He could outlast all his peers, even Mitsuha, when it came to endurance.

All these years he had berated himself for being inept, and born the scorn and mockery of many of his so-called 'teachers' and classmates. He had been competing with Kiba and Shikamaru for 'dead-last' over the past few weeks, thanks to his disinterest in Academy performance and inability to perform the Bunshin at all.

'To think, all this time, I was sad about being weak, but it was a gift I had all along...' he thought. 'Senju... the clan of the Shodai and the Nidaime... is it possible?' Could he actually be related to them, somehow? That would explain his stamina, certainly...

A rustle.

Naruto snapped up into a crouched, defensive position, kunai drawn, despite the protests of his aching muscles. Deep blue eyes glared into the underbush. It was probably a wild animal, most likely a noctural predator.

Then he saw her.

The dim half-moon incandescence lit her skin up like silver. Her naturally amber eyes reflected grey instead. Naruto stood up straight, lowering the kunai, and she lowered hers.

"Mitsuha."

"..." she turned around wordlessly and began to walk away.

Naruto smirked. "... Y'know, Iruka-sensei said that eavesdropping on people is a bad thing~"

Facing her back, Naruto would never see the faint, embarrassed redness on Mitsuha's face.

"Shut up, idiot."

"Make me, hag."

"Loser," and she was gone.

* * *

Naruto had taken a grand total of three steps onto the lake water without sinking before he heard a rustling sound behind him and promptly fell into the water.

"Ah!"

/Splash!/

Naruto would rise from the lake spluttering, coughing and spitting out a fish. "M-Mitsuha, if that's you again, for the last freakin' time, I know what I'm...!" Naruto stopped mid-rant.

"Hinosuke."

"H-Hi, Naruto-kun," the blue-haired boy was rubbing his left wrist with his right one; his characteristic, awkward quirk.

"Hi..."

"N-N-Naruto, I..." he paused, walking forward and bringing his hand towards the lake for the submerged Naruto to grasp. "S-Sorry... I didn't-I didn't mean to startle you."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked, staring at the oustretched hand. Then, he shrugged and grasped it. "Oh."

Hoisting himself onto his feet, such that he was now knee-deep in water, the redhead looked at the bluehead with a mix of confusion and distrust. Hinosuke rarely talked to Naruto, not since they were very young children. Why would he of all people show up here?

Meh, this was probably just another case of Hinosuke being at the wrong place at the wrong time, as far as Naruto could surmise.

"I, uh..." Hinosuke averted his pale gaze from the boy's cerulean one. He turned to rubbing his wrist in timidity. "I-I just... I wanted to s-say..."

Naruto's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Spit it out, Hinosuke."

The Hyuga Prince flinched. "I... I'm s-sorry."

Naruto paused, staring at him incredulously. "For what?"

"I..." Hinosuke sighed, closing his eyes. 'For not being there for you, for not being your friend because my father wouldn't let me associate with "the village pariah", even when you were the only person in the world who really ever stood up for me, because I suck at it' was what he wanted to say.

But he couldn't.

It was both a combination of embarrassment, and the fear of rejection that was so instrinsic to Hinosuke's personality since his mother died and his cousin Neji beat him in their sparring sessions in front of his father every. Single. Time.

Hinosuke clenched his fists at the thought.

Naruto sighed. Hinosuke was being weird again. Really, sometimes he just wished the boy could spit it out already. He-

"He w-w-wouldn't... let me."

"What?"

"My f-father."

Naruto paused, understanding dawning his features.

As if on que: "Hinosuke-sama!"

Naruto glanced up into the trees, in the general direction of the voice. Hinosuke simply sighed, rubbing a hand on his exasperated face.

Despite his conflicted feelings, Naruto smiled softly. "Is that your butler I hear? Ko, right? He's still around?"

Hinosuke grinned at the 'butler' comment, nodding. "I-I... hope we... I hope we end up on the s-s-same t-t-team..."

Naruto glanced at him, eyes widening somewhat. "You... do?"

Yes, the graduation exams were only a few weeks from now. That's what had Naruto practicing super-hard to get to stage four of these chakra control exercises that the Nidaime's scroll had outlined. The Nidaime said that even those with vast reserves could perform the Bunshin no Jutsu once their chakra control was enough to get them through water-walking and air-hopping.

Yes, if they were on the same team, that would certainly force Hinosuke's wretched biological sire to get off the boy's back for wanting to be friends with Naruto.

Hinosuke nodded quickly, before turning around. "G-Good luck," and then he leapt into the trees in the direction of Ko's voice, disappearing.

Naruto stared in the direction where Hinosuke had disappeared for the next few minutes, the gentle winds ruffling his spiky raspberry locks.

"... Teams?"

He hadn't even thought that far. He would consider it a miracle if he even got the basic Bunshin down in time to graduate, and everyone else was already wondering about team assignments?

Shit. He really **was** the dead-last, wasn't he? He hadn't been paying attention at all.

* * *

**Konoha Ninja Academy**  
**Classroom 3B2**

Iruka had only arrived in the classroom, having yet to prepare the board for the first class of the day when Naruto walked in.

"Iruka-sensei."

"Naruto?" Iruka blinked. "... It's 7:30. Class isn't due to start for another half hour...?"

"I know that."

Although he was calm, Naruto had an alarmed look in his crystal blue eyes, and for a moment Iruka was worried. What in the world could have the boy so worried as to actually show up this early for class?

"I needed to talk to you. About the graduation exams."

Iruka blinked. "Take a seat," he proffered.

"Actually, I wanted to ask what was after the exams," Naruto took the seat by Iruka's desk, as the man turned around and continued writing on the board, something to do with the theory behind the aerodynamics of kunai throwing. "Like, team assignments."

"What about?" Iruka inquired without turning around.

"Like... like, the Top Kunoichi, who gets put with her? Does she get to... choose her own team or something like that? Or is it totally random?"

Iruka paused, a small, knowing smirk finding its way to his lips, then resumed sketching diagrams on the board. "The Top Kunoichi gets paired with the Rookie of the Year. That's a given."

Naruto frowned.

Iruka hoped with all hope that Naruto would actually work harder to improve his position in the class once given that knowledge. Iruka knew the boy wanted to be on the same team as Mitsuha (whether she wanted the same or not he couldn't tell), and there wasn't any doubt that Mitsuha was going to graduate as Top Kunoichi. She was the best student in his class hands down.

But Iruka was also quite sure that Naruto could nail the Rookie of the Year position with minimal effort. The redhead was the brightest kid in his class, and was the only one who could match the Last Uchiha in his ninja skills. The only reason he was near the bottom tier was that his lack of effort in theory over the past two years and incessant failure at the Bunshin no Jutsu had lowered his grades considerably. Nothing that couldn't be salvaged if Naruto put in enough effort in the final exam, however.

As Naruto sat there rubbing his temples, trying to figure out how to cultivate the Jounin-level chakra control that he needed to perform a proper Bunshin, students began filing in one by one, and Iruka left for a moment in order to collect something from the library.

"Mitsuha-sama~!" Kiba's voice snapped the redhead out of his thoughts, and he glanced in the direction of the door to see Mitsuha walking in, with the Inuzuka on his knees in a proposal pause. He howled like a mutt, before declaring: "I choose today to declare my undying love for you, Mitsuha-sama!"

Mitsuha walked past him and went to her desk by the window, as if the Inuzuka crouched on one knee with his hand spread out to take hers in his didn't even exist.

"... I'll never give up on this true love of mine, Mitsuha-sama, until you are mine and I am yours!" Kiba began to cry anime tears.

Naruto didn't really know why he never liked Kiba. He was not aware of the instinctual rivalry between vulpes and canis, but the sight of him hitting on Mitsuha like that forced even Naruto to lose his cool.

"Hey, take a hint, dog-breath," Naruto shot an annoyed glare his way.

"Shut it, tomato!" Kiba barked back, and the puppy Akamaru growled right back at the redhead from atop Kiba's head.

"Mutt."

"Tomato!"

Kiba reached forward and grabbed Naruto by the scruff of his shirt, with Akamaru barking besides Kiba's leg.

"Toooo-maaaa-tooo!"

The clock struck eight and Iruka returned only a second later. "Naruto! Kiba! Detention after class!"

"Hmph," Mitsuha, a hand cupping her chin with arm resting on the desk, simply closed her eyes in disdain. "Who asked you to interfere, dobe?" she muttered under her breath. The lightest pink tinge on her cheeks was entirely unnoticeable.

* * *

**Night before Graduation Exam  
Naka River  
****Konohagakure no Sato**

A huge splash resounded through this section of the forest as Naruto fell face first into the river, spluttering and only barely managing to paddle enough to get his gasping mouth out of the water before he threw a wired kunai at a nearby rock. Pulling himself out of the water and onto the river water against the currents, Naruto quickly concentrated on the chakra consolidated at his feet. He had to constantly readjust the flow of chakra to balance himself against the rapidly shifting currents.

But it was working. He was doing it. He had at least this part of the exercise down.

He then looked up, seeing the twelve meter high, raging waterfall at the bottom of which he stood in front of him, the generator of the shifting eddies beneath his feet.

Naruto burst into a sprint atop the torrential waters, before he reached the best of the waterfall.

Then, straight up.

A quarter of the way up, about three feet, and Naruto could feel the sweat trailing down the side of his head despite the freshness of the season and locale.

Constantly readjusting the flow of chakra beneath his feet to water-surface-walk on a rapidly flowing river was one thing - doing the same thing _against gravity_ was an entirely different thing. He could feel the headache, he could feel the tenketsu in his souls begin to burn out, and his heart thundered against his chest at the thought that a single instinctual miscalculation here and he could actually drown.

Half way up.

Then, the water of the fall burst underneath him and he was propelled into the air.

This time, though, the scarlet-haired Uzumaki had experience guide him, and maintained enough control to flip himself mid-air as he fell and landed on his feet once again on the surface of the relentless rivulet down below. Once again, he forced the chakra beneath his soles to constantly alternate with the motion of the currents underneath, maintaining a stable position on the river despite the high flux.

"I... I only have tonight..." Naruto muttered under his breath, before taking off in another sprint over the moving waters, then straight up the waterfall.

A quarter of the way up.

The soles of his feet felt like they were being carved out by an electric saw.

About half way. Then, just a little over.

Yet, he was Uzumaki Naruto. When he set his mind to something...

Three-fourths.

He wasn't going to make it. He could feel his chakra control slipping, the tenketsu in his feet beginning to burst even as he tried to hold the excess chakra back and only release - and continually re-release, with minute readjustments - precisely the amount necessary to stick to the furious waterfall.

_'I have... to pass, tomorrow's exam!' _he realized. If he didn't, Mitsuha would graduate, and he would have to repeat the year. He tried to convince himself that it was the embarrassment of falling a year behind Mitsuha that was pulling at his heartstrings, and he succeeded.

A red blur shot up the edge of the waterfall, flipped into the air, and landed on the much, much calmer waters of the higher ground.

Even as he felt the world moving in reverse, the flow of the Naka river taking the waterwalking boy back towards the waterfall edge, a huge grin found itself onto Naruto's whiskered features.

"I did it?"

With two chakra-enhanced hops, Naruto jumped off the river and onto the bank, panting with his hands on his knees. He waited a little for his tenketsu to recover, wiping the sweat off his forehead with his orange-sleeved black jacket. Then, he heaved in a deep breath, and focusing as minute an amount of chakra out of them as he could with the help of the experience in chakra control he had gained so far, he flashed through the extremely familiar three hand seals while concentrating on the image of his own body.

Ram. Snake. Tiger.

"Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Two perfect duplicates of Naruto materialized beside him.

All three of them grinned a Cheshire grin. Despite himself Naruto failed to keep the excitement out of his voice.

"I did it, dattebayo!"

Not a moment later the two afterimages faded, Naruto's tenketsu screamed, his muscles went stiff as the chakra exhaustion set in and he fell onto the grass, snoring loudly.

* * *

**Uchiha District  
**  
_The stench of blood, metallic, nauseating, impregnated the air around her. No matter where she ran, in every house, on every window... corpses, lying in their own blood, pale, cold, dead. She could feel the tears on her cheeks, her heart thundering against her chest out of fear and horror, her legs so weak she couldn't support her own weight. She fell on her knees.  
_

_"Do you see?"_

_She froze. That voice..._

_The next moment she stood before her, and she stared into those glowing, triple-bladed red eyes. Her sister's face was so cold, so... twisted, that she wouldn't have been able to recognize her from her face alone. But she knew it was Izuha; oh she knew all too well._

_"... W-Why...?"_

_Her sister. Her idol._

_Slaughtered their entire..._

_"WHY!?" she screamed, sobbing hysterically, letting Izuha lift her into the air by the scruff of her shirt._

_"I needed to test my strength..."_

_Mitsuha's sob got caught in her throat. She couldn't even cry at hearing that. This was a nightmare. This wasn't true. This wasn't happening. This wasn't her **sister**!_

_"Ugh!" Mitsuha protested as Izuha pulled her closer, until her amber eyes were locked in a direct gaze with the elder Uchiha's abhorrently shaped Sharingan._

_"If you want to become as strong as me, **hate** me," Izuha whispered to Mitsuha. "Only your hatred will make you stronger."_

_Mitsuha's vision shifted, Izuha turning into a black silhouette and disappearing. She was forced to relive the entire night again, but this time through Izuha's eyes. She saw Izuha decapitating and amputating the limbs of everyone she cared about. Shisui, she saw him falling off the edge of the ravine; she saw Izuha stab her sword through her father's heart, and their mother... oh no, mother!_

_"NO!" Mitsuha screamed.  
_

_Gone._

_"Do you hate me yet, Mitsuha? __You **must**, to have eyes like mine.__"_

_Izuha's voice was ethereal. She couldn't see her, all she saw were blood red skies, her bare feet bathing in blood with the corpses of her entire clan all around her._

_T__hen, she saw her, in the distance. In her right hand was an extremely familiar whiskered redhead, struggling and squirming even as he was held in the air by Izuha's hands clasping and squeezing his tiny little throat._

_Mitsuha sobbed as she realized what was coming. "N-N-No...!"_

_Mitsuha's sobbed and screamed, even though she couldn't hear her own voice, running towards Izuha as fast as her legs could carry her in order to stop her. Yet, no matter how much she ran, Izuha remained the same distance away._

_"When you have eyes like mine, come, and find me. Do not ever love, Mitsuha, for it will weaken you. Become hateful. Become powerful. And fight me, so I know which of us is truly stronger. Or I..."  
_

_She saw Izuha's hand tighten around Naruto's neck and screamed, this time hearing her own voice carrying into the blood red sky._

**_"NOOOO!"_**

_Izuha snapped his neck._

"AAAAAH!"

Mitsuha jolted awake, panting like a dog in a desert and crying hysterically. Her wide eyes kept flickering between an iridescent crimson and her natural amber like a malfunctioning lightbulb, and her fingers clenched so tight over her sheets that her nails actually tore into them in places. Her bed was drenched in her sweat.

She looked out the window beside her bed. The night sky was visible, with faint moonlight peering through the window the only source of light in her room. She could hear cicadas chirping outside.

Tears welled up in Mitsuha's eyes, but they remained there; she had long forgotten how to cry.

Every night, for the past four years, that same dream. Except it was more than a dream. It was a memory, implanted into her mind by her sister's Sharingan.

Mitsuha lay back in her bed again on her right side, staring out through the window into the endless night.

This was something no one knew. Not even the Hokage.

Mitsuha relived that night, every single night.

Tomorrow... tomorrow was the Graduation Exam. Tomorrow she would be a Genin.

"I'm coming for you, Izuha. Soon."

* * *

**Graduation Exam Day  
Konoha Ninja Academy**

"Alright," Tohru Mizuki called out as he passed the test sheets to each desk. "Remember, once an answer is circled, it cannot be changed. An double answer is still marked incorrect, so choose your option wisely. And..."

Iruka, who standing near the examiner's desk, suddenly unleashed his Big Head no Jutsu on the class.

**_"NO CHEATING!"_**

"H-hai, Iruka-sensei!" the class groaned in chorus.

"Hey wait a minute..." Mizuki stopped when he reached an empty desk, looking around.

Iruka blinked at his colleague, before realizing the distinct absence of a red mop.

"Where's Naruto?"

* * *

Too exhausted from last night's training session, Naruto snored away in the exact same spot he had collapsed in.

* * *

**Graduation Exam Day  
Konoha Ninja Academy**

"Nara Shikamaru," Mizuki called out, and once the pineapple-head stepped closer, grumbling under his breath about how much of a drag this entire test thing was, he ordered, "perform the Bunshin."

Shikamaru made the three necessary hand seals and transformed into a perfect replica of Iruka, who was sitting right beside Mizuki.

"You pass. Next, Nakamura Fuji..."

Iruka sighed in exasperation, pinching the bridge of his nose. Naruto had already gotten a big 'zero' on the written test due to not showing up, and there was no way to pass him even if he succeeded in performing a Bunshin now. Iruka's heart was in his stomach already as he thought of the boy; Naruto had grown on him, and he _knew _that the boy was not the kind to just... run away...

Something must be wrong.

From where she stood in line, Mitsuha's line thoughts was similar to Iruka's, except that she wasn't a worrisome idiot. She was willing to bet the dobe had forgotten to set his alarm clock or something, and was probably sleeping in.

"... That _idiot_," Mitsuha mumbled, finding herself seething at the redhead for some reason.

* * *

**Near Naka River  
****Konohagakure****, an hour later**

**_"NARUTO!"_**

"AAAH!" the redhead jolted awake, right into a rather sloppy version of the Academy fighting stance, reflexively thinking he was under attack. Only when he was greeted by the face of Iruka and Mizuki - who had tagged along simply to back Iruka up, just in case - did he relax somewhat.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei! Mizuki-sensei!" Naruto grinned and gave a mock salute, oblivious to the obvious peril he was in. "Check it out!" Closing his eyes, Naruto flashed through multiple hand seals. First, he transformed into a perfect replica of Iruka, then replaced himself a shocked Mizuki (who spent the next couple of seconds trying to regain his bearings) and, now just beside Iruka in Mizuki's place, created five perfect afterimages of himself, surrounding Iruka from all sides.

"I can do it!" all the Narutos shouted simultaneously - except, the actual voice only came from the one besides Iruka.

Up in the trees, an eavesdropping Mitsuha clenched her fists so tightly in pent up rage that her knuckles became white. "You... _idiot_..." she mumbled quietly under her breath, before simply hopping off the tree and away from the scene.

She needed to go punch something.

Iruka simply stared at him slack jawed, and, unbenownst to the redhead, Mizuki glared at him from the side. Shaking his head, Iruka felt his heart sink again. While he realized that Naruto had been up all night, training, there was nothing that could be done now, Naruto had been marked as absent.

He had failed the Genin Exam.

"Naruto... the exam is over, you... overslept," Iruka began.

The scarlet-haired Uzumaki suddenly went as stiff as a board, all traces of happiness evaporating from his whiskered face in an instant. Iruka knew he need say no more.

Mizuki simply waited until Naruto was alone, and proceeded to make the last mistake he would ever make.

* * *

"Naruto-kun, wait. There is still _one_ way you can still become a Genin without losing a year, a... a supplementary exam, if you will. See, Hokage-sama has this Scrol in the Hokage's Office..."

Naruto's eyes narrowed, instantly suspicious. Yet, for some reason he decided to go along with it...

* * *

**Next day, Konohagakure no Sato**

**The Hokage's Office, Hokage Tower**

"May I enquire why, Hokage-sama?" the brunette asked in a clipped tone, one that conveyed the entirety of her displeasure while remaining professionally nonchalant all the same.

The Hokage blew out a puff of smoke, raising an eyebrow at the young woman in ANBU garb sans her Bear mask, standing before his desk. "Do you truly think anyone is more capable of doing this than you?"

"I am not fit to teach children," she protested, the briefest glimpse of fear in her eyes. But Sarutobi saw through it. "Especially not... not..." she turned away.

"And yet, I wouldn't trust anyone else in the world with Naruto," Sarutobi puffed out another smoke cloud. "Considering the... circumstances... which the two of you share, you would've been the obvious candidate even if you weren't the closest thing to family for him. You know this."

Rin glanced down at her sandalled feet. Just the sight of Naruto would rent open all of the old wounds she had spent the past twelve years trying to close. He looked just like Minato-sensei, and those hair... and then, that demon in his gut.

Uzumaki Naruto was everything that she had been running away from.

She had tried hard to kill her previous life off. Most people had forgotten that Nohara Rin even existed, that the Yondaime's prized student was still alive. She was only known as Itachi, the emotionless, fearless, relentless ferret-masked ANBU Captain that was the bane of every squad members' existence, who had never returned from a mission without accomplishing at least the majority of its objectives.

She was not the kind of person one assigned to shepherding Genin.

"It's for your benefit as well," the Hokage mused, and Rin glanced up at him, youthful brown eyes meeting aged, wizened ones. Hiruzen hated seeing Rin in the state she had been for so many years. It was high time, he felt, that she was pulled out of this isolated shell she had thrown herself in. Of all his subjects if there was one he felt he could potentially entrust the will of fire to after he was gone - and he knew he wasn't going to be kicking around for long - it was Minato's student.

The old her, anyways.

If there was one person who could pull Rin out of her shell, Hiruzen had no qualms about who it could be. The two needed each other, Hiruzen surmised. They were too similar, too intricately linked, to remain incognizant of each other's existence.

The silence was deafening, and after an intense battle of stares, Rin averted her gaze from the Professor.

"I can't lose him," she mumbled under her breath. Hiruzen heard her. "I can't bear losing him... the way I lost them. I can't bear that pain again."

Hiruzen smiled. "Then make sure you don't."

Rin's head snapped back up in his direction. She gulped, then hesitantly nodded, conceding.

* * *

**Next Day  
****Konoha Ninja Academy**

Mitsuha hadn't slept all night.

The Last Uchiha stared out of the window from her usual seat next to it. Ever since her sister had committed the manslaughter of her clan, there wasn't a negative emotion that Mitsuha hadn't suffered from. Horror, misery, helplessness, aching loss, grief, a true pain that could not be put into words... yet, somewhere in the darkness of the room that was her mind, from some small crack in the wall, a single ray of light had always been present.

Its name was Uzumaki Naruto.

Now, he was gone. They had been separated by something as petty as his having overslept, the darkness now total, and Mitsuha didn't even know what to feel anymore. She felt... exhausted.

Paralyzed.

Numb.

Suddenly, she heard a noise, and then those two bright-haired leaders of her 'Fan Club' were arguing over who got to sit on the empty seat beside her again. She still couldn't understand why these girls wasted their time admiring her so much for being the archetype of the 'strong, independent woman' (as Sakura had once put it), instead of working on their own skills and becoming strong enough to actually give her a challenge. _Then_, perhaps, she may even think of acknowledging them.

"Buzz off, Ino-pig! The seat next to the Top Kunoichi only belongs to the _Second-Best_ Kunoichi, which happens to be me!" Sakura yelled in her shrill voice, the loudness irritating Mitsuha to no end.

"Gah! As if Mitsuha-san could even bear to sit next to you! The sunlight reflecting off your forehead may as well blind her!" Ino shot back, and Sakura screeched indignantly at that, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment as she stole glances over at Mitsuha to verify, in vain, that her idol hadn't actually heard her being insulted like that.

Mitsuha was moments from just getting up and changing seats, when suddenly, Kiba showed up out of nowhere, chest puffed out as he parted the arguing girls by pushing them away with both hands before sitting in the empty seat himself.

"Stand aside ladies, everybody knows this bitch belongs to the Alpha himself," he pointed at his shining Konoha headband and then gave Mitsuha a seductive (read: horrific) grin, twitching his eyebrows suggestively.

Mitsuha's eyes snapped open and she glared at Kiba murderously. Her silent thoughts were voiced by her two, twitching, frothing-at-the-mouths-in-rage fans.

Ino. "Did you...?"

Sakura. "... just call...?"

Ino. "... Mitsuha-san a..."

Kiba shrugged, unaware of the impending doom he was seemingly in. He waved his hand at Ino and Sakura dismissively. "Hey, the b-word, in my clan, is an honorific!"

Ino and Sakura both pulled their fists back and hit Kiba in the head with so much strength that the boy was shot, unwittingly, straight towards Mitsuha. The raven-haired Uchiha couldn't react in time as Kiba had sitting right beside her, and the two smacked into each other, their lips meeting in a kiss.

While that sent the entire class into shock, at precisely that moment, the door-slid open and a familiar redhead walked in, only to be greeted by the unforgettable scene of Kiba and Mitsuha kissing.

Naruto fainted.

* * *

Iruka's ever-watchful eyes stared at the bandaged but still bleeding Kiba, a very injured Naruto, two extremely embarrassed Sakura and Ino and a Mitsuha whose eyes were concealed beneath her hair and who refused to meet anyone's gaze but looked distinctly green. The rest of the class, looked, well, jollier than usual.

Heck, even Shikamaru had trouble sleeping, it seemed.

"Ahem, anyways, to continue," Iruka flipped pages on the clipboard in his hands. "Team 7, will be Hyuga Hinosuke, Uchiha Mitsuha..."

Naruto's stomach fell. Of course, even though he had passed through unorthodox means, his absence in the exam meant that he would still be considered the dead-last. Hinosuke had been Rookie of the Year, and Mitsuha Top Kunoichi. There was no way now-

"... and Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto blinked, before a small, content smile broke out on his face, although inwardly he felt like jumping in joy - the mirth and smile were both mimicked by Hinosuke. Mitsuha had simply gone even stiller than before, and the green in her face had suddenly disappeared and she suddenly looked a lot healthier.

"Your sensei will be Nohara Rin," Iruka flipped the page again. "Team 8 will be Haruno Sakura, Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba..."

* * *

**One short recess later  
**

Rin stared at the folders in her hands as she walked through the Academy halls. Two clan heirs, one the last of Obito's clan... and Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto, who looked so hauntingly like his father, and had the one thing that defined Kushina the most: her red hair.

Sometimes, her life felt like one sick joke.

"Hold yourself together, woman," she spoke to herself, closing the folder with Naruto's face on the first page and sealed all through of them inside a scroll. They Academy records actually didn't have anything convincing on their abilities. The Uchiha was a prodigy in every single way, the Hyuga was too but he had low self-esteem issues, and Naruto was either a genius slacker or a complete dunce, who had failed most of his tests over the past two years and even missed the Graduation Exam itself.

It did not record the skills he had displayed on the night of that exam, however. The way he had taken down Mizuki. That, Rin had witnessed herself, as she had been among the ANBU dispatched to retrieve the Scroll. The boy had every bit of his father's talent, and drive. His mastery over the Kawarimi and Bunshin and the way he had used such basic jutsu so ingeniously, reminded Rin distinctly of Uchiha Shisui who took something as simple as the Shunshin to legendary proportions.

Not to mention, he had mastered the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu in under two hours.

That boy was probably the strongest dead-last in history.

Sighing, and re-orienting herself in time and place, Rin knocked before sliding open the door.

She raised her palm and caught the duster before it could reach her head, and threw it aside.

"Okay, you were right, Hino, she _is_ good," Naruto smiled cheekily, and it took all of Rin's ANBU training to keep her face schooled in an expressionless mask.

That was Minato-sensei's smile.

"And the first sensei to arrive? She's actually 5 minutes early," Chouji observed from the other side of the class while munching on a bag of chips.

"Only the best for Mitsuha-san... sucks that we couldn't be on the same team, huh?" Ino gave her idol a thumbs up, which the ravenette ignored.

"Naruto, Hinosuke and Mitsuha," Rin spoke, her voice somehow soft yet commanding at the same time. Instantly, the three children straightened up.

The brown-eyed brunette gave them a warm smile, with closed eyes. Smiling the way she would when she had been a Genin. Except back then it had been genuine. She watched a medium-sized net bag in the air with her right hand.

"Come on you three, let's talk over strawberries. They're fresh, I hand-picked them myself. "

* * *

**To be continued. Hope you all like the story so far. Read and review.**


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